Mishawaka corner activist gone, passersby wonder why

November 25, 2005|LAUREEN FAGAN Tribune Staff Writer

For two-and-a-half years, she sat on the corner of McKinley Highway and Fir Road. Everyone knew her, and she has the memories to prove it. Photographs of Mishawaka firefighters waving as they pass. Memories of all the pedestrians and motorists who passed her corner, honking and waving in support of the troops. But Donna West, who once said, "I get more out of this than anybody," doesn't sit on the corner anymore -- and since so many people were used to seeing her there, they might wonder why. "My knees got so bad, I just couldn't do it anymore," said West, now 65, from her new home in Whispering Pines apartments in Mishawaka. West moved there in mid-September, she said, after deciding to relocate to the retirement community if there was space available for her. There was. Because of a fire, West had just finished moving from one building to another -- but she was settled in enough to chat about how much she misses the people supporting the troops as they pass the corner she commandeered shortly after war broke out in Iraq. "I started doing it because I was so upset," West said, adding that in the beginning, she wanted to see more support for military personnel. "The Lord found me this place to live, so I figured I'd go be a senior now," said West, who still has her stars-and-stripes umbrella and cap handy even though she isn't going anywhere anymore. Still, she misses the people. "I miss it like crazy," said West, proudly showing off photos of her grandson, Alex, who serves on a U.S. Navy nuclear submarine, and her granddaughter, Vicky, a military police officer with the U.S. Army. "God bless these people," she added, saying again how proud she is of a community that supports its troops. Now that she's less active, West -- a Roman Catholic -- spends a great deal of time in prayer. Her list has hundreds and hundreds of names on it. Judy and Ron. Duncan, Moe and Sheila. Richard. Jim. Eric and Donna. Father Henry, the priest who stops by to give her Holy Communion. Some are in the military, some are in the police department, some are just from "all the people who came to the corner," West explained. "Probably a couple hundred," she said of the list. "But these are just ones for supporting the troops." And now that she's no longer on the corner most of the day, what is she doing? "Resting," West said.Staff writer Laureen Fagan: lfagan@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6344